Ensuring students are learning the tech and info lit they need

How can teachers and schools ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy?

I'll start with the idea that the "What they need" about Tech and Info Lit is defined by the IETS and AASL standards, which is the use of current technology for general skills that are found in all subject areas. I'll also draw from my current experience which is at International School Bangkok.

1. Give teachers time and training to use it themselves, so their use with students will be based on their own authentic use. A good example of this is the series of ISB Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy courses.

2. Embed the use of tech into the school at the teacher and admin level, for example, online learning environments like a Moodle (ISB's version is PantherNet), for teachers to post and share course work. Another example would be web-based Office products like Google Apps, which include Gmail and Google Docs.

3. Give students some room to use the tools they think are relevant. We all know students can teach themselves plenty about technology just by exploring and experimenting with their tech discoveries. An example of that comes from my colleague James Denby. He gave his students the option of making presentations on various applications, such as VuVox, Prezi or one more I can't remember.

Obviously, the particular applications will continue to change over the years, but it will likely advance and become more complex. Exposing students to or allowing them to use current technology will keep them as prepared as possible to use new technology.